If I'm so intelligent how did I get drawn in to it all? (page 2)

diamondiiz

We like pretty pictures and ideas without checking the history it looks good on paper.

ps. People look genuine and nice - wtf was I thinking? I was young and naive :(

leavingwt

You were probably introduced to the concept of 'God' as a small child.

The offer was this: eternal bliss and happiness.

As a child, how could you possibly turn down such an offer?

I can relate. It didn't help that I couldn't find critical information on the JWs in the library. 1983 was too soon for me to have internet access. The only people who tried to talk me out of it couldn't back up anything they said with facts, just ridicule.

Once I was in I was too busy to do any other research for a long time.

W

WTWizard

A person can be very smart. However, Jehovah has been pulling this same sxxx on mankind as long as man has been around. Create an issue, such as Original Sin. Distress mankind, so that He can promise deliverance (which he welshes on), and then create a set of rules that need to be abided by to get this deliverance. And then, any time anyone tries to expose the whole scam, Jehovah does all he can to ruin this and set mankind back to dependence on his almighty Fat Self.

If Jehovah can do this sxxx to whole populations, he can do it to individuals. People that He has selected to just grow old and die celibate without any intention of ever allowing them chances at anyone else are open to promises of fixing it, just as mankind in general is toward promises to deliver us from the mess He got us into. And, just like He welshed on His promise to deliver us from the distress He caused, He welshed on His promise to undo my God-enforced celibacy-forever situation. For others, it might be better health, a better job, or better relationships with their families--in every single case, the issue that He used to lead us into the cancer will never be settled. Jehovah always welshes on His promises, yet He uses them to lure mankind as a group and as individuals into religion.

Backspacer

I'm with ya sister! How did an intelligent woman such as myself get sucked into this was one of the questions I asked myself for a long time.

So many questions about the bible and god, I liked answers. It all sounded so logical in the beginning... well most of it. I do remember one point in the Live Forever book that confused me. "What? God has a physical body? Yes for the Bible tells us at (where ever it was quoted) that if there is a physical body there is also a spiritual one" I remember thinking "no that's not what it says, you got that backwards." When I mentioned it to the sister conducting the study, she came up with some logical explanation that sort of made sense at the time and said we should move on with the study. It will all make sense later. And it did! Ten years later when I was able to start researching things via the public library.

I think OTWO got it right. Intelligent people want answers and it's very appealing to the intellect to provide them. Don't feel ashamed of what happened. It is what it is.

Olin Moyles Ghost

Certain parts of Watchtower doctrine appeal to logic--especially when compared to traditional Christianity. For example, Witnesses love to harp on the Trinity doctrine using arguments such as "who was Jesus praying to?" and "who resurrected Jesus?" and "Jesus said the Father is greater than I am," etc.

They use similar arguments to deconstruct other traditional teachings (Hell, immortal soul, etc.). If you buy those arguments, then you've just excluded almost all major Christian religions. Combine that with the appealing promise of living forever on a paradise earth, and I can totally understand how folks get sucked in.

Of course, there are plenty of Watchtower doctrines that are laughable (trumpet blasts of Revelation, 2300 days of Daniel, etc.); confusing and contrary to common sense ("generation," Jesus isn't your mediator); and slanderous of God (only JWs will survive the "imminent" battle of Armageddon).

But Witnesses don't emphasize these teachings or their history of false prophecy, which should be enough to convince a fair-minded person that the Watchtower is not "God's visible organization." Unfortunately, it takes a while for most to figure this out. By then you're often in so deep that it's tough to get out.

Quandry

I am studying Abnormal Psychology right now. It is interesting that the textbook makes this point:

Existential psychologists assert that the central human fear, and the one from which most psychopathology develops, is the fear of dying. Anxiety about death is most prominent in, and best recalled from childhood. One way through which some people protect themselves from death fears is by cultivating in themselves the notion that they are special. It is a peculiar notion in that it holds that the laws of nature apply to all mortals except oneself.......... Protection against the fear of death or nonbeing can also be achieved by fusing with others. Fusion is an especially useful strategy for those whose death fears take the form of loneliness. By attaching themselves to, and making themselves indistinguishable from others, they hope that their lot is cast with them. They believe that much as these others continue to live, so will they. They also develop a fear of standing apart, as they believe that if they do stand apart, they will not longer be protected from death.......Yet, fusion may also lead to much unhappiness. A person may engage in inauthentic, or false, modes of behavior. He may say things to others that he hopes will please them, but that he does not really mean. For example, he may conform his opinions to theirs, bend his behaviors to suit them, do the things they do, even though his mind and body would rather believe and do something else. Gradually, he may come to lose sight of what he wants to do, while finding his conformity to others' opinions and behaviors only a pale pleasure. He may pay for a tenuous security against the fear of death by sacrificing his won authenticity.

Well, it explains a lot to me. I didn't think at 21 when I became a JW that I had a fear of dying, but I did like the notion of being "special" and not having to die like everyone else. It really hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized a few years ago that "Wait a minute.....the $%*t they said about not dying.......I'm gonna die like everybody else....I wasnt' supposed to do that!" Now that I'm heading toward 59 years old.....and realize that it could come sooner that I think!

So, it all goes to show that we are human, and like everyone else, want to be special...and at least we are intelligent enough to get out now!!!!

nancy drew

When I look back on my bible study I realiize that I had a misconception. during the studies I asked lots of questions and disagreed with some things and I thought open discussion was the way of it even after being baptized if I didn't agree I just put it in the we don't really know the answer to that question catagory. However, as time went on I would have conversations that were met with silence and looks of fear and then I discovered deceit in the literature and you know where that led.

So don't beat yourself up over it. We were all just looking for something meaningful and we thought for a moment we saw it. fortunately we have the courage to admit it and continue our search and our lives.

snowbird

That is so interesting, Quandry.

Describes me to a T!

Syl

If I'm so intelligent how did I get drawn in to it all?